Incinerators:
Myths vs. Facts about “Waste to Energy”
INCINERATION is a waste treatment technology that involves burning commercial, residential and hazardous
waste. Incineration converts discarded materials, including paper, plastics, metals and food scraps into bottom
ash, fly ash, combustion gases, air pollutants, wastewater, wastewater treatment sludge and heat. There are 113
waste incinerators in the U.S. and 86 of these are used to generate electricity. No new incinerators have been
built in the U.S. after 1997, due to public opposition, identified health risks, high costs, and the increase of
practices such as recycling and composting. In recent years, the incinerator industry has tried to expand their
sector by marketing their facilities as “Waste to Energy” (WTE), using misleading claims.
MYTH 1: Waste incineration is a source of renewable energy.
FACT: Municipal waste is non-renewable, consisting of discarded materials such as paper, plastic and glass
that are derived from finite natural resources such as forests that are being depleted at unsustainable rates.
Burning these materials in order to generate electricity creates a demand for “waste” and discourages muchneeded efforts to conserve resources, reduce packaging and waste and encourage recycling and composting.
More than 90% of materials currently disposed of in incinerators and landfills can be reused, recycled and
composted.1 Providing subsidies or incentives for incineration encourages local governments to destroy these
materials, rather than investing in environmentally sound and energy conserving practices such as recycling and
composting.
MYTH 2: Modern incinerators have pollution control devices such as filters and scrubbers that make them
safe for communities.
FACT: All incinerators pose considerable risk to the health and environment of neighboring communities as
well as that of the general population. Even the most technologically advanced incinerators release thousands
of pollutants that contaminate our air, soil and water. Many of these pollutants enter the food supply and
concentrate up through the food chain. Incinerator workers and people living near incinerators are particularly
at high risk of exposure to dioxin and other contaminants.2 A recent study published in the American Economic
Review found that among U.S. industries, the waste incineration industry has the highest ratio of negative
economic impacts from air pollution compared to the financial value added by the industry.3
The New York Department of Conservation found that the state’s
incinerators emit up to 14 times more mercury as coal-fired power plants
per unit of energy. In 2009, New York incinerators emitted a total of 36%
more mercury than its coal plans.
Ratio of Mercury Emissions
Per Megawatt Hour, New York
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
In newer incinerators, air pollution control devices such as air filters
capture and concentrate some of the pollutants; but they don’t eliminate
them. The captured pollutants are transferred to other by-products such
as fly ash, bottom ash, boiler ash/ slag, and wastewater treatment sludge
Municipal Waste
Coal Plants
that are then released into the environment.4 However, even modern
Incinerators
pollution control devices such as air filters do not prevent the escape of
Source: NY Department of Conservation, Comments to
many hazardous emissions such as ultra-fine particles.5 Ultra-fine
New York State Public Service Commission in the Matter
particles are particles produced from burning materials (including PCBs,
of the application of Covanta Energy Corporation,
August 19, 2011.
dioxins and furans), which are smaller in size than what is currently
regulated or monitored by the U.S. EPA. These particles can be lethal,
causing cancer, heart attacks, strokes, asthma, and pulmonary disease. It is estimated that airborne particulates
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cause the deaths of over 2 million people worldwide each year.6 In the U.S. communities of color, low-income
communities, and indigenous communities are exposed to a disproportionate burden of such toxins.7
Finally, U.S. regulatory agencies have found that incinerators are prone to various types of malfunctions, system
failures and breakdowns, which routinely lead to serious air pollution control problems and increased emissions
that are dangerous to public health.8
MYTH 3: Modern incinerators produce less carbon dioxide than alternatives.
FACT: Burning waste contributes to climate change.
Incinerators emit more carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit of
electricity (2988 lbs/MWh) than coal-fired power plants. (2249
lbs/MWh).9 According to the U.S. EPA, “waste to energy”
incinerators and landfills contribute far higher levels of
greenhouse gas emissions and overall energy throughout their
lifecycles than source reduction, reuse and recycling of the same
materials.10 Incineration also drives a climate changing cycle of
new resources pulled out of the earth, processed in factories,
shipped around the world, and then wasted in incinerators and
landfills.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Energy
Sources (lbs/MWh)
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Incineration Coal-fired
Oil-fired
Natural Gas
Source: U.S. EPA, 2007.
Denmark—the poster child of Europe’s incinerator industry—
recently discovered that its incinerators were releasing double the quantity of carbon dioxide than originally
estimated, and had probably been doing so for years, causing Denmark to miss its Kyoto Protocol GHG reduction
targets.11
In contrast, a 2009 study by the EPA concluded that up to 42% of U.S. GHG emissions could be impacted through
zero waste strategies such as recycling and composting.12
MYTH 4: Modern incinerators efficiently produce electricity.
FACT: All incinerators are a massive waste of energy. Due to the low calorific value of waste, incinerators are
only able to make small amounts of energy while destroying large amounts of reusable materials. While older
incinerators generate electricity at very low efficiency rates of 19-27%, a recent UK study13 found that
conversion efficiencies of new incineration technologies are even lower. Conversely, zero waste practices such
as recycling and composting serve to conserve three to five times the amount of energy produced by waste
incineration.14 The amount of energy wasted in the U.S. by not recycling aluminum and steel cans, paper,
printed materials, glass, and plastic is equal to the annual output of 15 medium-sized power plants.15
MYTH 5: Incinerators provide jobs for
Jobs Creation:
Recycling & Reuse vs Disposal
communities.
FACT: Recycling creates 10-20 times more
jobs than incinerators. Incinerators require
huge capital investment, but they offer
relatively few jobs when compared to
recycling. With a national recycling rate of
less than 33%, the U.S. recycling industries
currently provide over 800,000 jobs. A
national recycling rate of 75% would create
1.5 million jobs.16
Durables reuse
Recycling manufacturing
Recycling sorting
Landfilling
Incineration
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Jobs per 10,000 tons of materials
Source: ILSR
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MYTH 6: Incinerators are an affordable option.
FACT: Incinerators are the most expensive method to generate energy and to handle waste, while also
creating significant economic burdens for host cities. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration
Annual Energy Outlook 2010, the projected capital cost of new waste incinerator facilities is $8,232 per kilowatt
hour. That is twice the cost of coal-fired power and 60 percent more than nuclear energy. Waste incinerator
operations and maintenance costs are ten times greater than coal and four times greater than nuclear.17
Billions of taxpayer dollars are spent subsidizing the construction and operations of incinerators. In 2011,
Harrisburg, PA became the largest U.S. city to declare bankruptcy, and the financial blame rests squarely on the
shoulders of its staggering debt payments for upgrades at the city’s incinerator.18 Detroit taxpayers have spent
over $1.2 billion dollars in debt service payments from constructing and upgrading the world’s largest waste
incinerator.19 As a result, residents have had to pay high trash disposal fees of over $150 per ton. The city could
have saved over $55 million in just one year if it had never built the incinerator. For a fraction of these costs,
investments in recycling, reuse and remanufacturing would create significantly more business and employment
opportunities.20
MYTH 7: Incinerators are compatible with recycling.
FACT: Incinerators burn many valuable resources that can be recycled and composted, and incinerators
compete for the same materials as recycling programs. Because of the extremely high costs of constructing and
operating an incinerator, spending taxpayer money for an incinerator means that there are significantly less
funds to invest in more affordable solutions. More than two thirds of the materials we use are still burned or
buried,21 despite the fact that we can cost-effectively recycle the vast majority of what we waste.
MYTH 8: Countries like Denmark that are expanding incineration have the highest recycling rates and they
only burn materials that cannot be recycled.
FACT: Countries and regions in Europe that have high waste incineration rates typically recycle less. Data for
household waste from Denmark in 2005 clearly shows
that regions with expanded incineration have lower
recycling and regions with lower incineration do more
recycling.22 It’s worth noting that Denmark’s recycling
rate is well behind other regions of Europe such as
Flanders in Belgium, which recycles 71% of municipal
waste.
Regions of Denmark
Recycling
Incineration
Landfill
Hovedstaden
21%
77%
2%
Nordjyllnad
29%
63%
8%
Sjælland
31%
59%
10%
Midtjylland
40%
53%
7%
Syddanmark
41%
52%
6%
According to Eurostat in 2007, Denmark generates some of the highest per capita waste in the EU (over 1762
lbs. each year) and over 80% of what is burned in Danish incinerators is recyclable and compostable. A 2009
study reported that Europe throws away resources worth over $6 billion dollars every year by burning and
burying materials that can be recycled.23
MYTH 9: Modern European incinerators produce clean energy, less pollution
FACT: Waste incinerators in the EU continue to pollute the climate and cause significant public health risk,
while burning billions of dollars-worth of valuable, non-renewable resources. A recent public health impacts
report24 states that modern incinerators in the EU are a major source of ultra-fine particulate emissions. In 2009,
the Advertising Standards Agency in the UK banned the SITA Cornwall waste company from distributing its
booklet on incineration for, among other things, making unsubstantiated claims that the UK Health Protection
Agency stated that modern incinerators are safe.25
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MYTH 10: The EU is way ahead, and the U.S. lags behind in waste reduction.
FACT: U.S. communities have been pioneers in the field of Zero Waste, as have many communities in Europe
that prioritize zero waste above incineration, while many EU countries are ahead of the U.S. in terms of
national programs such as healthcare and climate change mitigation. Zero Waste is the design and management
of products and processes to reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all
resources, and not burn or bury them.26 Americans can be proud of some of the benchmarks we have achieved in
reducing waste through Zero Waste strategies:
 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts27 and the States of Rhode Island, Delaware and California have
either banned or seriously restricted new waste incinerators, in favor of Zero Waste practices and
policies.
 Massachusetts, California,28 Wisconsin29 and Washington30 prioritize Zero Waste practices and policies.
 The U.S. has led the world in the implementation of curbside recycling programs, with more
communities (40+) committed to Zero Waste goals than all of Europe, including the cities of Oakland
(CA), Los Angeles (CA), Seattle (WA) and Austin (TX).
 The city of San Francisco31 has achieved a 75% recycling rate of all municipal and commercial waste,
aims to get to Zero Waste by the year 2020, and has created over 1000 local jobs in the sector.
ENDNOTES
1
Platt, Brenda et al, Stop Trashing the Climate, ILSR, Eco-Cycle & GAIA, 2008.
Waste Incineration and Public Health (2000), Committee on Health Effects of Waste Incineration, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology,
Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, National Academy Press, pp. 6-7.
3
Muller, Nicholas Z., Robert Mendelsohn, and William Nordhaus. 2011."Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy." American
Economic Review, 101(5): 1649-75.
4
Römbke, J., et al. Ecotoxicological characterisation of 12 incineration ashes using 6 laboratory tests. Waste Management, 2009.
5
Howard, C.Vyvyan, Statement of Evidence, Particulate Emissions and Health, Proposed Ringaskiddy Waste-to-Energy Facility, June 2009.
6
Ibid.
7
Mohai, Paul, “Reassessing Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Environmental Justice Research," 2006, Demography, 43 (2), 383-399.
8
Massachusetts Department of Environment citations for violations by Covanta Haverhill Incinerator:
http://www.cjcw.org/notice/Covanta_Massachusetts_environmental_violations.pdf
9
U.S. EPA, http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/air-emissions.html
10
U.S. EPA, “Solid Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases, A Life-Cycle Assessment of Emissions and Sinks 3rd edition,” 2006.
11
Buley, Jennifer, “Plastic Surgery for Copenhagen’s Recycling Policy,” The Copenhagen Post, April 14, 2011. http://www.no-burn.org/plastic-surgery-forcopenhagens-recycling-policy.
12
U.S. EPA, Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices, 2009.
13
Fichtner Consulting Engineers Limited, The Viability of Advanced Thermal Treatment in the UK, 2004, p.4.
14
Morris, Jeffrey, Comparative LCAs for Curbside Recycling Versus Either Landfilling or Incineration with Energy Recovery, The International Journal of Life
Cycle Assessment, July 2005. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/m423181w2hh036n4/
15
U.S. Senate. Bill S. 3654 [109th]: Recycling Investment Saves Energy. Introduced July 13, 2006.
16
Tellus Institute, More Jobs, Less Pollution: Growing the Recycling Economy in the United States, 2011. www.recyclingworkscampaign.org
17
U.S. Energy Information Administration (Department of Energy), Updated Capital Cost Estimates for Electricity Generation Plants, November 2010.
http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/beck_plantcosts/pdf/updatedplantcosts.pdf
18
Lewis, Al, Don’t trash my city, Harrisburg activist warned, Market Watch, October 19, 2011, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dont-trash-my-cityharrisburg-activist-warned-2011-10-19?reflink=MW_news_stmp
19
Guyette, Curt, Fired Up: Detroit Incinerator’s Long Simmering Opposition, Detroit Metro Times, April 2008.
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=12748
20
Seldman, Neil, Recycling First -Directing Federal Stimulus Money to Real Green Projects, E Magazine, 2008.
21
U.S. EPA, 2006 MSW Characterization Data Tables, “Table 29, Generation, Materials Recovery, Composting, Combustion, and Discards Of Municipal Solid
Waste, 1960 To 2006,” Franklin Associates, A Division of ERG. www.epa.gov/garbage/msw99.htm
22
Data from Waste Centre Denmark, 2005 data for household waste, Storage for incineration classified with incineration.
23
Friends of the Earth Europe, Gone to waste – the valuable resources that European countries bury and burn, October 2009.
24
Howard, C.Vyvyan, Statement of Evidence, Particulate Emissions and Health, Proposed Ringaskiddy Waste-to-Energy Facility, June 2009
25
UK Without Incineration Network: Burner Booklet Banned, July 2009: http://ukwin.org.uk/
26
Zero Waste International Alliance: http://www.zwia.org/standards.html
27
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Patrick-Murray Administration Maintains Incinerator Moratorium, Expands Recycling Efforts,
press release, 12/11/2009.
28
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Archive/IWMBPlans/2001/Goals.htm
29
http://www.wnrmag.com/org/aw/wm/vision/futureofwaste.pdf
30
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/beyondwaste/
31
Newsome, Gavin and Morales, Bob, Don’t talk trash – compost, recycle, create jobs instead, Sacramento Bee, 12/20/2009.
2
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